Feb. 4, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
197 
BECKING FOR GROUSE. 
On the Scottish moors, where for many 
years it has been customary to drive grouse 
to the guns, it is supposed that the number of 
birds left over for the breeding season can to 
a greater or less extent be regulated by this 
method. In many instances this is not so, for 
the birds have changed their habits since the 
days of our forebears, when shooting over 
dogs was the customary plan. 
\ ears ago, when driving was first instituted, 
the birds were content to crouch down and 
hide in the long heather for safety, but con¬ 
tinual driving has changed their plans entirely, 
and now, if the ground shot over be at all 
hilly, they take to the higher stretches, from 
which they can easily keep an eye upon the 
advance line of the beaters. 
On ground which is low-lying they may, as 
a rule, be out-maneuvered, for if they can be 
well flanked and turned by the stops left at 
certain places for the purpose they are obliged 
to go right on to the guns stationed in the line 
of butts ahead. 
Among the hills and higher ground these 
driving tactics are impossible, and at the sea¬ 
son’s termination it will be found that far too 
many of the young birds have been shot on 
the low ground, leaving a too numerous quan¬ 
tity of old cocks who are wise, and hie them 
early to the tops, where they find sanctuary. 
1 here they remain until the commencement of 
the breeding season, when they descend from 
their mountain fastnesses and take possession 
of the best breeding sites, driving away all 
the younger and healthier cocks from their 
chosen domain. These old customers allow no 
others of their kind to come near them, and, 
though quantities of them are thus left, they 
are practically useless for breeding purposes, as 
all other birds move oflf and leave them. 
There is but one sure and certain method of 
getting rid of these troublesome old birds, 
which years ago was a common practice, but 
which of late has fallen almost into disuse, 
and that is the art of "becking.” It consists 
of calling them up to within range of the hid¬ 
den gunner, just as the turkey-hunter of 
America does with the wild gobblers of the 
woods. To learn this method of calling it is 
best to take the grouse themselves as teacher* 
and try to imitate their voices, which resound 
on all sides in the early morning hours. A 
tobacco pipe used scientifically is as good as 
any other instrument for successful reproduc¬ 
ing the cry of the cock grouse, though a good 
deal of practice is necessary in order to become 
an adept at it. 
In the early mornings the wary old cocks 
challenge each other, fluttering straight up into 
the air as they sound their battle-cry. Late in 
the season this challenge is seldom accepted, 
for by then all differences of opinion between 
the old fellows has been satisfactorily settled. 
When the keeper or shooter, however, arriving 
on the ground before laybreak gets hidden in 
some peat-bog or other convenient shelter and 
utters his challenge, then the air resounds with 
the cries of all the cocks within hearing, eager 
to do battle with the new intruder who has 
dared to set foot upon their chosen domain. 
As the hidden gunner perforce must remain 
stationary and under cover, the birds have to 
seeek for the intruder, and thus approach 
within range of his gun. 
The gun is mercilessly leveled upon him as 
he struts upon the heather, and just as merci¬ 
lessly is the trigger pulled, which completes 
the old cock’s downfall. Previous to the cus 
tom of driving, this method was the only sue 
cessful way of getting birds after they had im¬ 
bibed the spirit of winter mildness, and was 
practiced simply as a means of securing birds 
for the larder. Had it been carried out more 
systematically, in order to thin out the ranks 
of the worthless old cocks, moors would have 
generally benefited thereby. It was not looked 
upon as sport, but only as a necessary practice; 
but whenever it can be managed a small-bore 
rifle changes it from mere slaughter into some 
thing closely akin to sport while yet accom 
plishing the vital object. 
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